Surfing Waves

Hi everyone,

My name is Mikkyo,

I'm 25 and I live down on the south coast, UK.
Not too far from Selsey, Bracklesham & Witterings etc.

I've wanted to surf for many a year and I've decided to finally go for it, I'm looking into getting a 6/7' board from Shore (I think 6' would be okay for me, I'm about 5'9" in height thereabouts...

As I live off the coast by about 8/9 miles and I don't drive I'm going to have to think of a way to get me and my board (once I buy it) down to one of the locations mentioned above. I guess I could cycle with a board rack on the bike.

I've heard that Bracklesham is the better surf from a few people in the past as opposed to the Witterings, any comments on this?

Cheers everyone

Mikkyo

Hi Mikkyo

Mikkyo wrote:I'm looking into getting a 6/7' board from Shore (I think 6' would be okay for me, I'm about 5'9" in height thereabouts...

There's a world of difference between a 6' board and a 7' board
And even then, a 7' board isn't really suitable for a beginner at somewhere as fickle as the south coast UK. Think 7'6+, and loads of volume.

Bracklesham is probably a better wave to learn on than the Witts. It's a much simpler wave with a lot less to work out while you're learning to pop up etc.

Have a look around on the board about what board to get before you do anything else. Better still, take a couple of lessons on a hired board.

Thanks for the reply @Drowningbitbybit.

I'll take a good read about and do some research before I jump into getting a board for myself.

I was looking at one of these the other day: http://www.witteringsurfshop.com/collections/cortez-surfboards/products/cortez-minimal-7-4-x-21-1-2-x-2-7-8

My only concern is that as I'd probably end up transporting my board about on a cycle I want to make sure it's safe and secure - I have no experience with this but I feel like a 7' board would be too big for a bike?

Am I allowed to link btw? I know some forums don't like it - if it's an issue admins please remove

Mikkyo

Mikkyo wrote:Am I allowed to link btw? I know some forums don't like it - if it's an issue admins please remove

Mikkyo

Self promoting links will be removed and its bad form to put up links to stuff on other sites that can be purchased from the forums shop but apart from that its ok.
A bit of advice. Buy a surfboard based on your ability to ride it. Don't buy a surfboard on your ability to give it a ride to the beach.

KS

kitesurfer wrote:

Mikkyo wrote:Am I allowed to link btw? I know some forums don't like it - if it's an issue admins please remove

Mikkyo

Self promoting links will be removed and its bad form to put up links to stuff on other sites that can be purchased from the forums shop but apart from that its ok.
A bit of advice. Buy a surfboard based on your ability to ride it. Don't buy a surfboard on your ability to give it a ride to the beach.

KS

Thanks for the heads up, I work as an SEO Consultant so I'm already too aware that some forums crack down on link building (honestly wasn't my intention with the above).

That's a good reference, I haven't looked through the forum shop yet.
I'd prefer a board that I can learn on, be stable on and get to know the ropes, something I can use for a good fer years tbh as I can't afford to pay out all the time for new boards.

I think something over 7' would be best after doing some reading up.

---EDIT---
Might sound a bit mad but is there any point when being on a bigger board say a 9'6 becomes a hindrance instead of beneficial?

I'm looking at three boards in the shop, Vision 7'0 softboard, Vision 8'0 softboard and either a 9'2 or 9'6 Cortez longboards.
I don't know if going straight into a longboard over a softboard is a good idea but in the long run it'd save me having to buy another board when moving up to longboards from softboards...

Cheers,

Mikkyo

Oh, forget about softboards - they're just for your very first couple of goes out in the surf.

Do a couple of lessons (that will be on softboards) then think about what size board to get.
The longer the board, the easier to learn on (to a point - above 9ft can get a bit hard to handle), which is particularly true around the gutless surf of the south coast UK.

There is no doubt that a 9ft board is harder to handle in the surf than a, say, 7ft board. However, the downsides are very much outweighed by the benefits to a beginner, such as easier to paddle (you dont have to be as surf fit), easier to catch waves, much more stable, much more forgiving of mistakes or bad positioning and so forth. If you cant paddle out, catch waves, stand up etc, you simply can't learn to surf. So getting a smaller board because its easier to handle (or fits on your bike or whatever) is a bit pointless in that respect

(I have seen in Indo plenty of motorbikes carrying longboards - I'm sure in a strong wind its probably a bit of an issue tho!)

Get the 9ft2 Cortez, or something that looks much like it.